Current Production
We are not planning to run a touring production for 2022/23 – our first year off since 2004! – but we will continue to offer our usual workshop programme.
In the meantime you can browse all our past productions, stream films of them online, or buy lots of lovely production resources.
We also have a new devised piece available for occasional performances:
Current Production:
The Government Inspector (Autumn 2023 - Spring 2024)
Failure. Inadequacy.
Mismanagement.
Sloppiness. Carelessness.
Deceitfulness.
Negligence. Incompetence. Denial.
Why would a Government fear a Government Inspector?
We are excited to announce our touring production for 2023/24 is a Splendid creative adaptation of ‘The Government Inspector’, an 1836 comedy written by Ukrainian playwright Nickolai Gogol.
The play is a satirical prod at power, privilege, corruption and classism set in a small provincial town whose public servants – including the untrustworthy Mayor – are told they are to be assessed by an anonymous official: The Government Inspector.
At the same time, an idiotic aristocratic stranger arrives in town, setting the stage for an escalating masterclass in political farce.
In Splendid’s new adaptation, a highly skilled cast of three will populate an entire town of panicking officials, dismayed citizens and feckless fantasists in a fast-paced, one-hour performance which asks: if absolute power corrupts absolutely, what happens when you only have a tiny bit of power?
SEPTEMBER 2023 UPDATE: We’re delighted to say that the schools’ tour is now provisionally sold out, so the best way to see the show now is to come and see us in a theatre. Tickets are now available for all 5 theatre venues we’re visiting this tour – see the links below. If you are interested in an in-school performance, you can fill in our booking form to be added to our waiting list as there are often cancellations over the course of the tour.
BOOKING INFORMATION
Our Government Inspector tour will operate slightly differently to previous Splendid tours. The production is still our usual 1hr multi-roling cast of three with no tech requirements, but we are changing the structure of our sessions. This year we are offering:
- 1hr performance + 30min Q&A session (approx. 2hr visit) for £650+VAT (available for morning, afternoon, or after school/evening sessions.)
- 1hr performance + 1 or 2 4hr workshop session/s (approx. 5.5hr day) for £1300+VAT
- Public performances in a selection of theatres (tickets available soon)
The prices include travel & accommodation. There’s no limit to audience size for shows, and for full-day sessions we can offer up to 2 workshops for a maximum of 25 students each depending on suitable spaces.
This year’s workshops are:
- Splendid Style in relation to The Government Inspector
- Physical Storytelling (episodic structure, heightened characterisation, actor as everything) – useful for young devisers.
Our mighty accompanying education pack comes with all bookings and for the first time will include practical exercises to use in class after our visit to explore Splendid Style.
We plan to film the show in early 2024.
Regular Splendid bookers will notice this is a reduction of workshopping time and an increase in prices. This reflects both the rising price and financial risk of touring theatre, and a recognition of the workload placed on our small cast. (The tour also begins later than previous years to accommodate our OLIVER-NOMINATED summer show at Shakespeare’s Globe & Shakespeare North: Midsummer Mechanicals.)
Theatre dates and tour schedule are below, you can use the booking form to request a date or email us if you have any questions.
The Government Inspector tour schedule (2023/2024)
| AUTUMN 2023 | |
|---|---|
| Date | Area |
| Thurs 5 & Fri 6 October, Mon 9 & Tues 10 October | SOUTH EAST |
| Mon 16 - Fri 20 October | SOUTH WEST |
| Mon 30 October - Fri 3 November | SOUTH ENGLAND |
| Mon 13 - Fri 17 November | NORTH ENGLAND |
| Tues 21 November (4.30pm & 7pm) | Lowry, Salford - tickets available now from £16.50* | Thurs 23 November (4.30pm & 7pm) | Pleasance, London - tickets on sale now £14-£15* |
| Mon 27 November - Fri 1 December | HERTS, BUCKS, BEDS, BERKS & OXON |
| Mon 11 December - Fri 15 December | NORTH WEST |
| SPRING 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Date | Area |
| Mon 8 - Fri 12 January | NORTH ENGLAND |
| Mon 22 - Fri 26 January | MIDLANDS |
| Thurs 25 January (4.30pm & 7pm) | Quarry Theatre, Bedford - tickets available now £12.50-£14.50* |
| Mon 5 - Fri 9 February | YORKSHIRE & LANCASHIRE |
| Mon 19 - Fri 23 February | SOUTH WALES, WEST ENGLAND |
| Tues 20 February (7pm) | Blake Theatre, Monmouth - tickets available now £12-£14* |
| Mon 4 March - Fri 8 March | SOUTH ENGLAND |
| Thurs 7 March (4.30pm & 7pm) | MAST Studios, Southampton - tickets available now £13* |
| 18 March – Fri 22 March | EAST ENGLAND |
NOTE: On the booking form you can specify two choices of dates – we always do our best to accommodate all requests, but we also have to consider creating a sensible itinerary, so please be aware that we cannot guarantee specific dates, and completing a booking form does not guarantee a booking.
*Theatre ticket prices may include booking fees. Group rates are available, please contact theatre box offices for full details.
Splendid Productions’ ‘UBU’
Touring until Spring 2022
Based on: The Ubu Plays by Alfred Jarry
Adapted by: Kerry Frampton & Ben Hales
Directed by: Kerry Frampton
Additional Direction by: Matt Wilde, Cordelia Stevenson
Songs by: Ben Hales
Design by: Kerry Frampton
Costume by: Kerry Frampton, Heather Castle-Rainsbury
Cast & Characters
Kerry Frampton: UBU
Scott Smith: The Writer
I Love You But F*ck Off
A new devised piece of autobiographical theatre from Splendid’s Artistic Director Kerry Frampton and her daughter Matilda Wilde – available for in-school performances (ages 16+ only).
On the eve of her 22nd birthday, Kerry Frampton got pregnant, catapulting her into the life of a young mum. 25 years later, Matilda’s wondering how her mum did it.
Together, mum and daughter retrace the events that have defined them. Bound together in a constant cycle of separation and closeness, how do you figure out who you are, separately from the people that are a part of you? Who are you without them?
That complicated, fierce, unquestioning love between two people, that is simultaneously too much and never enough. How do you navigate the world without that person?
Join this mum and daughter duo as they attempt to figure it out without ending up in close spoon or physical fight in the process.
